Welcome Flower Child

November 15, 2020
A monthly party of positivity hosted by garden fairies. This book's dedication sets the positive tone: "Every child is a different kind of flower, and all together make this world a beautiful garden." Anchoring the title page, fanciful winged garden fairies parade the flowers to be highlighted in the ensuing text. Most are familiar (daffodil, rose, poppy, etc.), but the list doesn't seem to duplicate any standard list of birth months and flowers. Within, each double-page spread contains a four-line verse with an encouraging message for that month. "December: Poinsettia / December's flowers are vibrant and strong. / They raise our spirits like a song. / Your sweetness and courage are a gift / that gives our hearts a cheerful lift." The verse is singsong-y, with the occasional metrical stumble and more than occasional clich�. The real joy of this book is the illustrations, with colors as vibrant as a brilliant sunset. Garden snapshots pop against lighter backgrounds. Close inspection of the illustrations will reveal garden fairies, moths, and butterflies. The most observant readers will also spot a mouse, a spider, ladybugs, caterpillars, and dragonflies. (This book was reviewed digitally with 9.5-by-19-inch double-page spreads viewed at 39.9% of actual size.) So-so verse but a warming message for the heart and a feast for the eyes. (Picture book. 4-7)

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Starred review from February 1, 2021

PreS-Gr 2-Come stroll through Barrager's garden to learn all about the flowers of the month and explore the ever-changing world of nature. In these pages, fairies with a variety of skin tones fly about teaching readers about every month's flower through encouraging verses. Readers can discover their own birth flower at the beginning before taking a stroll through a gorgeous garden, with bright colors standing out even from a distance. Each page delivers four rhyming lines that describe not only the month, the season, and the flower, but also an uplifting horoscope. The spreads are even more impressive, creating different garden scenes with the colors of that flower and month, fairy friends helping one another, and so many other details. Like stumbling onto an enchanted garden, the possibilities for this book are endless: learning students' birthdays at the beginning of the school year, playing a sort of I-Spy with younger readers, teaching rhyme, and more. VERDICT There really is something for everyone to find and feel good about in Barrager's flower garden. Children will love spotting all the details and hearing their own monthly verse.-Margaret Kennelly, Indian Head Elem. Sch., MD

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